The invention relates to an RFID marking element for mounting on surgical instruments, hereinafter referred to as “tag” for short.
Conventional RFID tags for mounting on surgical instruments comprise, in addition to a substantially annular metal holder, a disc-shaped plastics or ceramic body that is surrounded by the metal holder. The metal holder itself can be secured by welding, in particular laser welding, to an instrument on which a tag is to be mounted.
In other solutions, an RFID element is potted in a hole in the instrument.
The advantages of surgical instruments on which RFID tags are mounted are their easy identifiability and traceability, it being possible to check and read the RFID tags without particular skills on the part of the personnel.
Instruments having RFID tags mounted thereon reduce the risk that instruments remain in the body of the patient after surgery. In addition, it is easier to manage the inventory of instruments and to better track the use of the surgical instruments during their service life.
The two known solutions have the problem that the transmitting power of the RFID element of the RFID tag is comparatively low.
In the case of RFID tags known under the name SIMSAFE, an annular metal holder is used in which a slot is provided so as to prevent a short circuit. Nevertheless, the transmitting power of RFID tags mounted in this manner on instruments is still too low for simple handling in everyday hospital routines.
It is an object of the invention to propose an RFID tag that is suitable for mounting on surgical instruments, and by means of which, in addition to stable anchoring on the instrument, encapsulation of the RFID elements from the surroundings, good cleanability, and improved detectability, i.e, transmitting power in the surrounding area of the instrument, can also be achieved.